Curtain stretching and drying apparatus



Aug. 16, 1938.' J FABER, JR 2,126,762

CURTAIN STRETCHING AND DRYING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 9, 1937 2 SheetSSheet l INVENTOR. J'ah/n 7-2152, '4,

Q LM ATTORNEY.

Aug. 16, 1938. J. FABER, JR

CURTAIN STRETCHING AND DRYING APPARATUS ZSheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 9, 1937 INVENTOR Jail/M Faber,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 16, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CURTAIN STRETCHING AND DRYING APPARATUS Application January 9, 1937, Serial No. 119,750

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus in which curtains may be held stretched and thereupon otherwise treated, as by drying them. The invention provides for treating a pair of curtains at a time. In addition to curtains of course other article of flexible sheet material may be treated.

According to the invention in one aspect thereof there is a generally plate-like and substantially rectangular support providing bearings at its respective four marginal sides for rotary members around which and the support extend endless chains which carry stretcher bars at each face of the support, those. at each face crossing each other, and these bars and the support have means to which to attach the margin of the article. The said members are preferably housed.

Preferably the said support is a part of a closure for the opening of a dryingchamber, best pivoted in the chamber so that it may be reversed; the article applied opposite one face thereof may on such reversing be presented to the interior of the chamber and when another article has been applied opposite its other face and said closure again reversed the article applied opposite its other face will be presented to the chamber interior. In such a case there must be provision for preventing escape of the drying fluid past or through the closure, and this the invention also contemplates.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus and Fig. 2 a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation on a larger scale of the closure and a part of the movable system supported thereby;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the inner side of a certain bafile l3;

Fig. 6 is a section of a detail on line 6-6, Fig 1;

Fig. 7 is a plan of a detail, showing how a stretcher-bar is attached to one of the two endless flexible connections therefor;

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8, Fig. 1, of What is shown in Fig. 7, certain parts appearing in elevation; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevation showing how the closure is pivoted in the drying chamber.

The drying chamber includes a semi-cylindrical wall I (comprising preferably sheet-metal layers la and an intervening insulating layer lb) and end walls 2. 3 is its base. 4 is a louvered opening in one end wall through which heated air is impelled into the chamber by a blower 5. 6 is .an outlet for moisture-laden, air. lifhe rectangular opening formed at the front of said chamber is to be closed by asubstantially rectangular and generally plate-like closure means or closure affording the aforementioned support and constructed as follows:

I is a rectangular wall or plate, as of laminated wood. Rotary members, comprising shafts 8 each having a sprocket 9 near each end thereof, are to be arranged outward of and with their axes parallel with the respective marginal sides of the 10 wall 1. Hence, when the closure is in closing position there must be provision for closing off the interior of the chamber from the atmosphere, as past the marginal sides of said wall. For this purpose and to house the shafts there is a hollow 15 border structure or housing which extends continuously around the margin of the wall I and is itself outwardly rectangular so as to be received in and approximately fit the opening of said chamber and which is thus constructed: Ill designates counterpart brackets in which the shafts are journaled and having arms Illa which lap the wall I and are clamped thereto by bolts l I having nuts l2. There are preferably at least two pairs of brackets to a shaft, one pair near each end 25 thereof with the corresponding sprocket between the members thereof. A heavy sheet-metal shell I4, which is rectangular and continuous in plan (or as viewed toward either face of wall 1) but 'is channeled as seen in section (Fig. 4) marginally surrounds said wall with its open side adjoining the wall margin and it contains and is formed to fit and is secured to the brackets by screw-bolts [6. The shell is divided in a plane between the faces of wall I or exists in two counterpart halves l5 whose inner edges form flanges l5a, in planes between which are those of said faces (in other words, the shell projects beyond the plane of each such face, Fig. 3, and thus forms a ridge paralleling each marginal side of 40 wall 1) and whose outer edges are clamped together by screw-bolts IT, with felt stripping I8 between them. When the closure is in closing position the stripping prevents escape of the hot air contained in said chamber and behind the closure via any crevice which might exist around the closure. Moreover, since escape of the drying fluid would still be possible around the margin of said wall, I provide a sheet-metal baffle l3 which extends continuously around such margin (between it and the brackets) and from one flange 15a to the other and is apertured at l3b for the bracket arms, such baffle also having a flange l3a which laps wall 1 all around. It will beunderstood that each half of the shell I4 as well as the bafile may initially exist in four lengths (one for each marginal side of wall 1), afterwards preferably to be welded together to give them the continuous form; for instance, the abutting mitered ends of the shell lengths may be welded together at l9, Fig. 3. Since the closure thus formed will usually be pivoted in the opening of the drying chamber in such manner that it may be turned on its pivoting axis to present either face thereof to the interior of said chamber, there are other brackets 3! contained in the shell, being in form and in all other respects counterparts of the brackets l and hence fast to the shell and wall and arranged in a line centrally bisecting the closure, but having stubshafts 31a journaled in the walls 2 of the drying chamber and one having a crank 32 for turning the closure.

Opposite each face of wall 1 is a pair of stretcher bars, one, 21, vertical and the other, 28, horizontal, the former to be moved horizontally and the latter vertically (those bars 21 and 28 which are behind the Walls 1 as shown in Fig. 1 appear dotted). Each bar and said closure along a line parallel with each bar are equipped to engage and hold a curtain or the like article in stretched state; for this purpose the bar and a part of the closure, as the housing, l4 may be equipped with carding cloth 29 and 30.

The means to support and move the bars here includes the rotary members 8-9 and endless flexible elements extending around wall 1 and the sprockets of the appropriate members 89 and now to be described: Each such element includes two equal-length chains 20 connected together by plates 2!, one at each face of wall I. An end link 20a of one chain is connected permanently by screws 22 to a plate; an end link 2022 of the other chain is connected by screws 23 to the plate, being engaged in slots 2 la therein. If the endless element slackens the screws 23 of one plate may be loosened and the slack taken up by a turn-buckle 24 connecting said links and accessible through an opening 25 in the plate. Each two plates at either face of wall 1 are in a line parallel with two opposed lengths of the housing I4. Each bar 21 or 28 is secured to two such plates by clips 26 on the latter.

For each bar there are two of the endless elements and their chains extend through apertures 130 in the corresponding bafiles, such apertures being so limited as to permit but a negligible fluid leakage from the chamber.

Each bar should be confined to the closure so as not to undergo displacement toward or from the same or lengthwise of themselves as when the closure is inverted. For this purpose their ends slide on the flanges la and the bars 28 have lugs 28a which may abut the edges of the flanges and take under the same. Bars 21 have their ends rebent, as at 21a, to slide on the flanges without permitting interference between these bars and bars 28, which cross them, and their terminals are bent outward to form lugs 21b which take under the flanges.

One of the two members 89 around which the endless elements extend for any bar is a drive shaft, as each of the lower and right-hand shafts in Fig. 1. Each such shaft has at one end a bevel gear 33 meshing with a bevel gear 34 (journaled in an arm lb of the adjoining bracket), the latter having a socket 34a to receive a Wrench for turning it, admitted through a hole 35 in the housing.

the curtains will be stretched when their margins are attached all around to the carding cloth, one curtain is so attached and the closure is inverted. While the latter curtain is drying the other curtain is attached and in due course the closure is again inverted to dry such curtain while the first is being removed.

There may be a pointer 36 geared to each of two shafts (only one pointer being shown) and coactive with a dial 3! on the hOusing to indicate precisely the positions of the bars controlled by such shafts.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. In combination, a substantially rectangular and generally plate-like support providing bearings at each of its marginal sides, rotary members journaled in said bearings with their axes parallelwith the respective marginal sides, pairs of endless flexible elements arranged with one pair thereof extending around the support and two of said members which are co-parallel and with the other pair of said elements extending around the support and the other two members, and a pair of bars arranged opposite one face of said support, one bar being carried by one pair and the other bar being carried by the other pair of said elements, and the bars of each pair and the support having means to which to attach the margin of the article to be treated.

2. In combination, a substantially rectangular and generally plate-like support providing bearings at each of its marginal sides and having at one face thereof ridges respectively paralleling said sides, rotary members journaled in said bearings with their axes parallel with the respective marginal sides, pairs of endless flexible elements arranged with one pair thereof extending around the support, through two of the ridges and around two of said members and with the other pair of said elements extending around the support, through the other two ridges and around the other two members, and a pair of bars arranged opposite one face of the support and each having its ends engaging two of the ridges, one bar being carried by one pair and the other bar by the other pair of said elements, and the bars and the ridges having means to which to attach the margin of the article to be treated.

3. In combination, a wall, a housing extending continuously around the margin of the wall and projecting beyond the plane of each face of the wall and comprising bearing means at the respective marginal sides of said wall and a shell enclosing the bearing means, rotary members journaled in said bearing means with their axes parallel with the respective marginal sides, pairs of endless flexible elements arranged with one pair thereof extending around the wall and two of said members which are co-parallel and with the other pair of said elements extending around the wall and the other two members, and bars arranged opposite one face of said wall, one bar being carried by one pair and the other bar being carried by the other pair of said elements, and the bars and the structure formed by the wall and housing having means to which to attach the margin of the article to be treated.

4. The combination, with a chamber for drying fluid having an opening and a generally plate-like and substantially rectangular closure adapted closely to fit said opening and including a substantially rectangular wall and a housing aflixed to, and such housing including a channeled shell extending continuously around and open toward, the wall margin, said shell projecting beyond the plane of each face of the wall, of bafiie means obstructing fluid flow around said wall margin and between the same and the housing, rotary members journaled in the housing with their axes parallel with the respective marginal sides of the wall, pairs of endless flexible elements arranged with one pair extending around said wall and two of said members which are co-parallel and with the other pair of eleticle to be treated.

JOHN FABER, JR. 

